“Thank you for Catholic Answers Live. The material has helped me to become a better fourth grade CCD teacher.”

~ Jason, Demarest, New Jersey

Is the sign of the cross on the forehead, lips, and heart before the Gospel reading for the priest only?

Full Question

Is the sign of the cross on the forehead, lips, and heart before the Gospel reading for the priest only?

Answer

Everyone is instructed to do this. The General Instruction of the Roman Missal states,

At the ambo, the priest opens the book and, with hands joined, says, Dominus vobiscum (The Lord be with you), and the people respond, Et cum spiritu tuo (And also with you). Then he says, Lectio sancti Evangelii (A reading from the holy Gospel), making the sign of the cross with his thumb on the book and on his forehead, mouth, and breast, which everyone else does as well. (GIRM 134)

Former This Rock contributor Fr. Mateo offered the following explanation for this ritual: "For the word which Christ brought and which is set down in this book we are willing to stand up with a mind that is open; we are ready to confess it with our mouth; and above all we are determined to safeguard it faithfully in our hearts."

Magazine Articles

Blog

Pure Faith: A Handbook of Prayer for Catholic YouthPure Faith: A Handbook of Prayer for Catholic Youth is a unique prayer guide designed exclusively for teenagers. It's short enough that a teenager will read it, yet it's packed with spiritual wisdom and advice from saints and holy men and women, as well as prayers for a variety of needs, circumstances, and individuals.With this guide in hand, your teen will know how to pray simply and effectively... how to draw closer to God through prayer... and how to use prayer to meet and overcome the challenges he or she faces.

"You may make the hearing of a blessed Mass treason, or the saying of an Ave Maria treason...but I have committed no treason, although, indeed, I suffer the punishment due to treason."

~ John Bodey, Venerable, English martyr; on the scaffold, upon hearing he was being executed for "treason".